SANParks invites comment on west coast marine protected area plans

Stakeholders have until 3 July to respond to a five-year management framework with significant implications for the Saldanha Bay industrial corridor

SOUTH AFRICA: South African National Parks (SANParks) is giving the public until 3 July 2026 to comment on its draft management plan for the West Coast National Park Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Islands and Langebaan estuarine lagoon, covering the period 2027 to 2031.

The plan governs five MPAs collectively known as the West Coast National Park MPAs: the Langebaan Lagoon MPA, Sixteen Mile Beach MPA, and the Malgas, Jutten and Marcus Island MPAs. Together, these areas protect 15 coastal and benthic ecosystem types, of which four are classified as Endangered and eight as Vulnerable under national biodiversity assessments.

The region's conservation significance is considerable. The Langebaan Lagoon is a Ramsar site and the only estuarine tidal lagoon in South Africa. The broader area forms part of the UNESCO Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve and falls within the Cape Canyon and Associated Islands, Bays and Lagoon Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area. It supports threatened seabirds including African penguins, Cape gannets and bank cormorants, as well as nursery habitats for sharks and commercially important fish species.

The issues being addressed

The management plan acknowledges that the MPAs sit within a complex socio-economic environment. Key concerns the plan aims to address include declining biodiversity, overfishing, marine alien species, pollution and the cumulative pressure of industrial and residential development.

Seagrass beds in Langebaan Lagoon have declined significantly since the 1960s, with associated losses in invertebrate diversity and wader populations. Fish populations, including harders, white stumpnose and smooth-hound sharks, have experienced severe declines from overexploitation. At least 18 marine alien species have been recorded inside the MPAs, among them the Mediterranean mussel and Pacific South American mussel, which alter community structures and degrade native habitats.

SANParks also flags the cumulative pressures of climate change, including ocean acidification, sea level rise and intensifying coastal storms, as long-term drivers of ecosystem risk.

The maritime sector's footprint

The plan is particularly relevant for the maritime industry. The sensitivity analysis identifies port activity, shipping, aquaculture and fisheries as the primary drivers of cumulative environmental pressure in Saldanha Bay. The construction of the iron ore terminal and the Marcus Island causeway has demonstrably altered hydrodynamics and the physical structure of habitats, affecting wave energy, sediment composition and organic matter levels. These changes have disrupted epibenthic communities and contributed to the documented decline in seagrass cover in Langebaan Lagoon.

Industrial activities associated with the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) continue to introduce contaminants into the marine environment, including heavy metals, oil and excess nutrients. These pollutants drive habitat degradation, eutrophication and harmful algal blooms. Changed circulation patterns in Saldanha Bay, with water now remaining in Small Bay longer than historically observed, are also attributed to ongoing development.

The plan notes several proposed projects that could deepen these impacts further, among them the expansion of the ore line, liquefied natural gas import facilities, a crude oil storage facility and a gas-fired power plant. Mariculture in Saldanha Bay, centred on an aquaculture development zone producing fish, mussels, oysters and seaweed, is also identified as a source of organic waste, toxic compounds and invasive species transfer.

How to participate

Given the scale of maritime and industrial activity in Saldanha Bay, operators, port authorities and related industries have a direct stake in engaging with this process. The plan will shape how activities within and adjacent to the MPAs are regulated for the next five years.

PHOTO: Commercial mariculture in Saldanha Bay has impacted on the overall environmental health of the environmentally sensitive sites managed by SANParks. (© Maritime Review Africa)

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